Friday, January 31, 2014

Second Aggie Replant for Lost Pines scheduled for February

For the second year in a row, a group of Texas A&M University
students will spend two weekends – Feb. 1-2 and Feb. 8-9 – planting
trees in the fire-ravaged area of Bastrop State Park. The volunteer effort will once again be led by Aggie Replant,
a student environmental organization, with the aid of the Texas A&M
Forest Service. The effort to restore trees to the area devastated by
fire on Labor Day weekend in 2011 has brought help from volunteers from
across the state. The volunteer work is part of the five-year
public-private wildfire recovery partnership to plant more than 4
million trees on public and private land in Bastrop County.Last year Aggie Replant was the first student-led university
organization to participate in this campaign. Student leaders with the
organization say just as in last year’s event, 600 Aggies will come
together once again for selfless service, leadership and respect for the
environment to plant 10,000 seedling trees.“This is our second year to help with the Lost Pines Recovery Campaigneffort,” says Katharina Moeller ’16, Aggie Replant director.
“We are so excited to continue this tradition. The Texas A&M Forest
Service has been very helpful and is doing a great job in helping to
facilitate this effort.”On each of the four days planned for the project, Moeller says three
buses will leave Texas A&M at 8 a.m. and drive to Bastrop. The
students will work planting trees and then return by bus at 4 p.m.“The Lost Pines Recovery Campaignis something that Replant is so
proud to participate in and plan. We have spent countless hours
preparing for this project and cannot wait to see the results. The
interest in the project from the students was outstanding and the help
we received in marketing the project was phenomenal,” adds Moeller.Interested in helping? Visit http://bastroprecovery.org/